Central Park, largest and most important public park in Manhattan, New York City. It occupies an area of 840 acres (340 hectares) and extends between 59th and 110th streets (about 2.5 miles [4 km]) and between Fifth and Eighth avenues (about 0.5 miles [0.8 km]). It was one of the first American parks to be developed using landscape architecture techniques.

In the 1840s the increasing urbanization of Manhattan prompted the poet-editor William Cullen Bryant and the landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing to call for a new, large park to be built on the island. Their views gained widespread support, and in 1856 most of the park’s present land was bought with about $5,000,000 that had been appropriated by the state legislature. The clearing of the site, which was begun in 1857, entailed the removal of a bone-boiling works, many scattered hovels and squalid farms, free-roaming livestock, and several open drains and sewers. A plan was devised by the architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux that would preserve and enhance the natural features of the terrain to provide a pastoral park for city dwellers; in 1858 the plan was chosen from 33 submitted in competition for a $2,000 prize. During the park’s ensuing construction millions of cartloads of dirt and topsoil were shifted to build the terrain, about 5,000,000 trees and shrubs were planted, a water-supply system was laid, and many bridges, arches, and roads were constructed.

The completed Central Park officially opened in 1876, and it is still one of the greatest achievements in artificial landscaping. The park’s terrain and vegetation are highly varied and range from flat grassy swards, gentle slopes, and shady glens to steep, rocky ravines. The park affords interesting vistas and walks at nearly every point. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is in the park, facing Fifth Avenue. There are also a zoo, an ice-skating rink, three small lakes, an open-air theatre, a band shell, many athletic playing fields and children’s playgrounds, several fountains, and hundreds of small monuments and plaques scattered through the area. There are also a police station, several blockhouses dating from the early 19th century, and “Cleopatra’s Needle” (an ancient Egyptian obelisk). The park has numerous footpaths and bicycle paths, and several roadways traverse it.